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S. 0. KENAGA.

GORN HARVESTER.

No. 264,708. I Patented Sept. 19, 1882.

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S. G. KENAGA.

CORN HARVESTER. No. 264,708. Patented Sept. 19, 1882.

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W M dim fly QMM UNITE STATES PATENT FFICE.

SAMUEL U. KENAGA, OF KANKAKEE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO J.SMITH BRIGGS AND CHARLES H. BRIGGS, OF SAME PLACE.

CORN-HARVESTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 264,708, datedSeptember 19,1882.

Application filed October 15, 1881.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, SAMUEL U. KENAGA, ofKankakee, in the county of Kankakee and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful improvements in Corn-Harvesters; and I do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accom panyingdrawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to machines for harvesting standing corn,provided with a cutter for severing the stalk as the machine advances.Its main objects are to sever the stalks with the least practicableexpenditure of power, and to provide for the formation of sheaves on themachine, and forthe delivery of the sheaves upon the ground in a properstanding position.

To these and other ends, that will be hereinafter stated. the inventionconsists in certain features of construction and arrangement of theknife, and in its combination with cooperating parts, and in theprovision of a receptacle in which the cut corn may be accu-' mulatedand bound, and from which it may be discharged by the attendant, aswillbe hereinafter more fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective view of the apparatus. Fig. 2is a top view thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section throughas w of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical perspective sectionthrough 3 y of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a view of the knife and plate uponwhich the corn is to fall, seen from a point of vision at the side and.man of the knife and in the plane of the harvester-bed.

A represents a bed or platform, mounted low on wheels B. Said wheels andtheir axles may be those of an ordinary farm-Wagon, and the bed A may beconnected therewith, as shown, in place of the reach of such wagon.

G is the knife or cutter, which is stationary.

D is a guide for directing the standing corn to the knife.

E is an elevated shaft or rod mounted, to r0- tate in the standards 6,and provided with a worm or spiral wing, E and also with a pulley, E, bywhich it is rotated from the adja- .the adjacentfront wheel, 13.

(No model.)

cent hind wheel, B. Said shaft operates to tilt the corn inward, as willbe explained.

F is an inclined plate or board, upon which the corn falls when cut. Fis a rear vertical end piece, secured to the board F to retain the corn.

G is a receptacle into which the cut corn is first thrown and thenbound, and from which it is subsequently thrown by a rotary movement ofthe receptacle.

G is a stationary end piece for said receptacle G.

A distinctly novel feature of my invention is found in the position anddirection of the knife-edge. Said knife is located at one side of theplatform A, mainly outside the track of Itis here shown as a broad, flatplate set slightly inclined outward or overhanging at its uppersharpened edge. It also inclines outward from the front to rear, and itsedge is preferably higher at its rear than at its front end. Relative tothe inclination of the knife from the vertical, said knife may inclineto the extent of, say, fortytive degrees, or thereabout; but it ispreferably more nearly vertical, somewhat as shown in Fig. 3. The edgeis sharpened from the inside.

The guide D at its point (1 stands off from the platform A, so as toreach outside the row of corn to he cut, and has its inner edge directedinward, so as to guide the corn against the knife. Space is, however,provided between the inner end of the guide and the knife, so that theformer does not arrest the corn at this point, but allows it to passback along the knife-edge, and to be thereby gradually and more easilycut. (Jo-operating with the knife so placed and so acting throughout itsentire length to gradually cut the corn, and located at a suitabledistance above the knife. the shaft E is arranged longitudinally, withthe bed A in position to incline the corn inward over the knife for atleast a portion of its length, as more clearly indicated in Fig. 2. Saidshaft is here shown as being mounted in the standards 0 to rotate bymeans of the belt e, trained over the pulley B on the wheel B and overthe pulley E on the shaft E. It is also shown as being provided with theworm or spiral flange E over the knife, whereby the tops of thecornstalks, when inclined, may, by proper arrangement of the belt 6, beeither drawn backward or pushed forward, according to the direction oftheir inclination. ()rdinarily the worm will be rotated to draw thembackward against the tendency to incline forward under the action of theknife 0 and guide I). lVhen the knife is setin the position and at theinclination from the vertical described, it is found to sever the cornwith great case, so as to require little power to do the work. Thisresult is obvious from the evident fact that the draft upon the corn isdownward or nearly opposite to the direction at which the edge is set,and is very slightly lateral to said edge, as would be the case whollyif the blade 0 were horizontal. The board F catches the corn as it issevered, and the end board. F, retains it in place thereon. Said board Fis inclined upward toward its inner edge, so that the operator, whostands on the platform A near the board and at the rear of theshockholder, may readily reach under the corn lying thereon and lift itinto the trough G for the purpose of forming a sheaf. Said trough ismounted on a rotating post, H, located centrally beneath it, and ispivotally connected therewith by means of a lug, G The trough istherefore universally jointed to the bed A, and is capable of beingswung around and tilted into the position shown in full lines in Fig. 4,and also shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The iixed board G serves as a stopagainst which the butts of the eut corn are placed to give evenness tothe sheaf. Vhen enough corn has been gathered into the trough to form asheaf it is bound, and the trough is swung and tilted, as described,throwing out the sheaf with its butts down and so as to stand said sheafupright on the grotind. The trough being further turned or brought backto its original position, another sheaf is similarly formed anddischarged, and so on. Obviously any other form of universal joint thanthat shown may be employed for the proper movement of the trough G.

For the general purpose of tilting the corn over the knife 0 and uponthe platform F, the shaft E may be a simple stationary guide'bar orfeeder without the worm-flange.

I claim as my invention- 1. In a corn -harvester, a stationary flatknife, (3, set nearly vertical, having a practically-straight uppercuttingedge arranged to strike the stalks as theharvester advances, andoutwardly, rearwardly, and upwardly inclined, substantially asdescribed.

2. In combination with the outwardly and rearwardly inclined stationaryknife 0, the guide D, arranged to direct the corn against the knife, butterminated in position to allow the corn to follow the edge of the knifeafter it is engaged thereby, substantially as described. p

3. In combination with the outwardly and rearardly inclined stationarycutter (J, the spirally-flanged shaltE,arranged above and to cross thecourse of the knife,'as shown.

4. In combination with the stationary knife 0, set and arranged asshown, the inclined plate F, substantially as described, and for thepurposes set forth.

5. The platform or bed A, provided with the cutter O, the guide D, androtating and tilting shock-holder G, together with standing place forthe operator, and adapted to be mounted on the axles of an ordinaryfarm-wagon to constitute a portable corn-harvester, substantially as setforth.

- In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I affix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL O. KENAGA. Witnesses: 1

\VARREN R. HIGKOX, 0. FRED WHITMORE.

